This time around
by xjustcallmecamillex
Summary: Chris and Jill have left for Europe looking for Wesker, leaving Claire behind.Then Leon shows up.Are his intentions as clear as they seem though?


**Disclaimer: I do not own resident evil or any other brand names mentioned**

**Chapter 1**

Something was jabbing her in the arm. She slowly opened her eyes to see the irate face of her boss. She snapped her head up off the desk, embarrassed beyond belief.

"Redfield, so nice of you to join us. There's an agent down by the receptionist's desk looking for you. You aren't in any sort of trouble are you? Broken any laws recently?" he asked as if he didn't care. Tony Garcia wasn't worried about a scandal. He could bounce back from anything.

_Wouldn't you like to know? _Claire thought. She straightened her sweater and stood up, casually wiping the drool from her mouth in what she hoped was a discreet manner.

"Um, not that I know of Mr. Garcia" she replied sweetly, tightening her auburn ponytail. Some days this guy could be a real dick, but she had to put up with him because he was the only person who would hire her at the temp agency. Let's just say her resume wasn't exactly spotless.

"You've got fifteen minutes. Anything over and it's coming out of your paycheck. Legal issues on your own time Redfield." he barked.

Mr. Garcia left her cubicle and went to yell at some other worthless grunt. She sighed and picked up some files and went to see what Mr. Agent wanted. Probably something about her brother, but she knew the routine. She was completely void of any information about the whereabouts of a Mr. Chris Redfield and a Ms. Jill Valentine. Once that was over, she could get her copying done and Garcia off her case.

Still, she hated when these agents showed up out of the blue, now at work. It made her worry. She couldn't just call Chris and ask him what was going on. Not knowing where he was or what was happening was killing her to the point of sleep deprivation. If there wasn't news soon, she'd more then likely get on Garcia's last nerve and be deprived of a job as well.

She walked down the hall and noticed a few of her co-workers of the female variety were giggling like senseless school girls.

"What the hell is going on here?" she whispered to herself.

"Oh! There you are Claire!" Georgie the receptionist said spotting her. She cracked a knowing smile and Claire felt even more confused. "There's a rather gorgeous man down there waiting for you, an Agent Kennedy? Glad to see you've moved on."

"What!" Claire yelled. Georgie and a few others jumped and looked at her.

"What's wrong Claire? I thought he was just a date you had. You're not in trouble are you?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Claire managed to shake her head. She started tugging on her sweater and pushing her bangs out of her face, her heart thumping in her chest.

Agent Kennedy meant Leon Kennedy. It had been about four years since she last saw him. Sure, they'd shared a shaky email and phone relationship, but she'd always been caught up with some anti- Umbrella thing and he always had a case to work on. Now he was here in the flesh.

Not to mention that before he'd left training, they'd gotten close. On the brink of very close. Just remembering that made it even more awkward. Should she run out there and hug him like she usually would have or be more demure and sophisticated? She didn't know what to expect from him and for the first time, she was nervous around him.

"Get back to work!" she heard Garcia snap to the gigglers. "Clock's ticking Redfield."

Claire stopped her inner monologue and started walking to the desk slowly, still trying to formulate a plan of action. The Claire he knows or the new and improved Claire? Not that she was really new and improved, but he was a government big-shot. She saw him at the president's frickin' inaugural address on TV. Where was she? A lower level drone at a rubber band company.

She could see him up ahead. He was wearing khaki cargos and a gray thermal shirt. His hair was styled the same somewhat, the color a little different. Instead of red it was a tawny color, but that wasn't right either. It was a dark blondish-red with sun streaks in it. He didn't see her, he was preoccupied with tying the laces of his boots.

She took a deep breath, and decided on the new sexy Claire. Before she had a chance to second guess herself, she picked up the pace and decided to command the situation. Control had helped her out of the more terrible situations in her life.

He looked up when she stopped in front of him. That's when she noticed the change. That sweet innocence that used to hover around him was gone. It was like staring into the eyes of a veteran of war. She faltered for a moment but shook it off when he smiled. It still made her melt.

_'Jeeze, get a hold of yourself woman. Garcia's not going to like it if he has to have someone clean you out of the carpets. Also, puddles aren't very sexy.'_

"Claire, long time no see." he said standing up. She threw her arms around him, to hell with Garcia and sexiness.

"It's great to see you." she said into his shoulder.

"You too. In a skirt no less." he said with a bit of mischief. She smiled, it was like they'd never been separated.

"Jill made me." she said with a laugh. After living with the girl, some of her attributes had rubbed off on her.

"So how are Jill and your brother?" Leon asked. He must have noticed the look that slipped into her face. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"The copy room, no one's bound to be in there." she said. She led him through the maze of cubicles to the copy room. She closed the fake wooden door behind her with a click. Sure enough, the room was empty.

"Jill and Chris left for Europe a week ago. Since then, I haven't been in contact with them. I've been so worried I've been losing sleep." she tumbled out." apparently there's been some traces of Wesker."

"I was just over there." he said distantly. "A little village in Spain. There was this cult. They were-" he hesitated. "Let's just say for the sake of my job they had something precious. I was sent solo to go get it."

"What happened?" Claire asked with rapt attention.

"I thought I saw some fucked up shit in Raccoon. Here though, the people were like zombies, but they weren't. They could think, use weapons. It was something in their blood. I had a nasty run in with a couple of chain saw wielding ones." Claire winced at the imagery. "I thought I was done with mutants, but the things there made Raccoon look tame."

"Jesus Christ." she whispered. "I hope they haven't hit anything like that."

"They might have. A sample got away." he said darkly as if there were something else to it. She didn't push it. The look in his haunted eyes was too much.

Also, she couldn't. The door flew open making them both jump. If possible, an even angrier Garcia stood in the doorway.

"I'm running a rubber band business Redfield, not a café. Unless agent Kennedy here is carting you off to prison, I suggest you get back to work." he growled, slamming the door after him.

Despite the dark tones of the conversation before the interruption, Claire burst into laughter. Leon soon joined her.

"He's something, isn't he?" Leon asked.

"He's something alright." she replied. "Something evil."

"When do you get off work?" Leon asked opening the door.

"Five." she answered as they walked back to her cubicle.

"I'm staying in town, let me give you the address and we can finish this over dinner."

Claire frowned at the idea of discussing Umbrella over food. Leon silently agreed.

"Or a drink." he offered. She nodded and pulled out a post-it and a pen. He scribbled the address down.

"See you later." he said showing himself out.

Claire sighed, dumping her files down on her desk and sitting heavily in her chair. She looked at the picture of her and her brother in happier times.

"I just hope you're okay Chris." she whispered.

**A/N: Sorry if this blows. It's my first time. Be brutal in those reviews people.**


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